Decoration plate and electronic apparatus having the same

ABSTRACT

A decoration plate and an electronic apparatus having the same are provided. The decoration plate includes a cover plate, a conductive ring, an insulating layer, and a conductive element. The conductive ring is disposed on a surface of the cover plate. The insulating layer is disposed on the surface of the cover plate and covers the conductive ring, and the insulating layer has at least one opening. The conductive element is disposed in the opening.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of and claims thepriority benefit of a prior application Ser. No. 13/303,147, filed onNov. 23, 2011, now pending. The prior application Ser. No. 13/303,147claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 99140580,filed on Nov. 24, 2010. The entirety of each of the above-mentionedpatent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and madea part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to an electronic apparatus, inparticular, to an electronic apparatus capable of effectively preventingdamages caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD).

2. Description of Related Art

In the delay life environment, the electrostatic discharge (ESD)phenomenon can be seen everywhere. Basically, due to different electricaffinities of different objects, charge transfer between objects likelyoccurs when any two objects are separated after contact, thus resultingin electrostatic charge accumulation. Once the electrostatic charges inan object accumulate to a certain degree, when the object withelectrostatic charges contacts or gets close to another object ofdifferent potential, transient charge transfer will occur, which is theso-called ESD.

Specifically, electronic products are easily damaged by ESD inmanufacturing, production, assembly, transportation, and even in useafter being purchased by users. Therefore, electronic products must havean ESD protection design, to effectively prolong the service life.Especially, for the products fabricated through advanced semiconductorprocesses, such as integrated circuits (ICs) and planar displays, thesize of the elements is very small. Therefore, when the elements aresubjected to high-voltage ESD, wires inside the ICs or the planardisplays are likely to be permanently damaged, and leading to elementfailure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a decoration plate,which is capable of providing an ESD protection.

The present invention provides an electronic apparatus, which is capableof preventing damages caused by ESD.

The present invention provides a decoration plate, which includes acover plate, a conductive ring, an insulating layer, and a conductiveelement. The conductive ring is disposed on a surface of the coverplate. The insulating layer is disposed on the surface of the coverplate and covering the conductive ring, and the insulating layer has atleast one opening. The conductive element is disposed in the opening.

The present invention further provides an electronic apparatus, whichincludes a panel, a conductive housing, a cover plate, a conductivering, an insulating layer, and a conductive element. The panel has adisplay surface. The conductive housing encloses the panel and exposesthe display surface of the panel. The cover plate is disposed on theconductive housing and is located above the display surface. Theconductive ring is disposed on the cover plate. The insulating layer isdisposed on the cover plate, located between the conductive housing andthe conductive ring, and covers the conductive ring, in which theinsulating layer has an opening. The conductive element is disposed inthe opening, and the conductive ring is electrically connected to theconductive housing through the conductive element.

Based on the above, in the present invention, a decoration layer and aconductive ring are disposed on a cover plate of an electronic apparatusto form a decoration plate, and the conductive ring is electricallyconnected to the conductive housing of the electronic apparatus. Thus,the electronic apparatus may have good ESD protection capability, whichfacilitates the improvement of the service life of the electronicapparatus.

In order to make the aforementioned and other objectives and advantagesof the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied withfigures are described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1A is a schematic exploded view of an electronic apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B shows a film layer stacking order of a decoration plate in theelectronic apparatus in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the decoration plate and aconductive housing in the electronic apparatus in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional structural design along a line A-A′ inFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows another cross-sectional structural design along a line A-A′in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5A is a schematic exploded view of an electronic apparatusaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B shows a film layer stacking order of a decoration plate in theelectronic apparatus in FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 is a top schematic view of a decoration plate.

FIGS. 7 to 10 are cross-sectional structural designs along a line B-B′and a line C-C′ in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in thedrawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1A is a schematic exploded view of an electronic apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B shows afilm layer stacking order of a decoration plate in the electronicapparatus in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the decorationplate and a conductive housing in the electronic apparatus in FIG. 1.FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional structural design along a line A-A′ inFIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2, and 3, an electronic apparatus 100includes a decoration plate 10, a conductive housing 160, and a panel170. As shown in FIG. 1B, the decoration plate 10 includes a cover plate110, a decoration layer 120, a conductive ring 130, an insulating layer140, and a conductive element 150. The material of the cover plate 110is, for example, glass or plastic. The panel 170 has a display surface172, and the panel 170 is, for example, a display panel, a touch panel,or a touch display panel, in which the display panel is, for example, aliquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode display,an electro-wetting display, or a bistable display. The panel 170 and theconductive housing 160 are individually shown as independent components,but when being assembled together, the conductive housing 160 mayenclose the panel 170 and expose the display surface 172 of the panel170. That is to say, the conductive housing 160 has an accommodationspace 162 to accommodate and protect the panel 170.

The cover plate 110 of the decoration plate 10 is disposed on theconductive housing 160 and is located above display surface 172, and thedecoration layer 120 and the conductive ring 130 are disposed on asurface of the cover plate 110 and are located at a side of the coverplate 110 close to the conductive housing 160. Alternately, thedecoration layer 120 may also be selectively disposed at a side of thecover plate 110 away from the conductive housing 160. The insulatinglayer 140 is disposed on the cover plate 110, and is located between theconductive housing 160 and the conductive ring 130, the insulating layer140 covering the conductive ring 130 has at least one opening 142, andthe conductive element 150 is disposed in the opening 142, such that theconductive ring 130 is electrically connected to the conductive housing160 through the conductive element 150.

Specifically, the conductive element 150 may be a conductive glue, forexample, an anisotropic conductive glue, a conductive plug, or a shortmetal pillar, such that the conductive ring 130 is electricallyconnected to the conductive housing 160 through the conductive element150. When the electronic apparatus 100 has undesired electrostaticcharge accumulation, the electrostatic charges may be transferred to theconductive housing 160 through the conductive ring 130 and theconductive element 150 for release. Therefore, the electrostatic chargesin the electronic apparatus 100 is not liable to be accumulated and theESD phenomenon is prevented, thereby reducing the risk of element damageand prolonging the service life.

The amount and the shape of the opening 142 in the insulating layer 140and the amount and the shape of the conductive element 150 are notspecifically limited. As long as the opening 142 is disposed in theinsulating layer 140 for facilitating the conductive ring 130electrically connected to conductive housing 160 through the conductiveelement 150 in the opening 142, the design will conform to the spirit ofthe present invention.

The decoration layer 120 of this embodiment may be an annular patternformed by an opaque ink or other non-transparent materials such asceramic materials. The area of the decoration layer 120 may cover theconductive ring 130 and a part of the conductive housing 160 to preventa user from directly seeing the conductive ring 130 and the conductivehousing 160 in a top view, which facilitates the improvement of theappearance of the electronic apparatus 100.

In addition to the components mentioned above, the electronic apparatus100 in FIG. 1 may further include a plastic housing 180 shown in FIG. 4.FIG. 4 shows another cross-sectional structural design along a line A-A′in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 4, the relative position of the cover plate110, the decoration layer 120, the conductive ring 130, the insulatinglayer 140, the conductive element 150, and the conductive housing 160 issubstantially the same as that in the design shown in FIG. 3. In thedesign of this embodiment, the conductive housing 160 may be combinedwith a plastic housing 180 through integral injection, such that part ofthe conductive housing 160 is formed between the cover plate 110 and theplastic housing 180, and the plastic housing 180 has a side wall 182surrounding the cover plate 110. Nevertheless, the present inventiondoes not limit the assembly type of the electronic apparatus in thehousing. As long as the conductive ring 130 has the conductive housing160 and is electrically connected to the cover plate 110, the ESDprotection design may be realized, which facilitates the improvement ofthe reliability and the service life of the whole device. Therefore, thecross-sectional designs mentioned above are merely illustrated asexamples, but not intended to limit the present invention.

Additionally, FIG. 5A is a schematic exploded view of an electronicapparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 5B shows a film layer stacking order of a decoration plate in theelectronic apparatus in FIG. 5A. Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, anelectronic apparatus 200 is substantially similar to the electronicapparatus 100, so element labels of part components in FIGS. 5A and 5Bare the same as those in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and the same element labelsrepresent the same components. In this embodiment, in an insulatinglayer 240 of a decoration plate 20, an opening 242 forms, for example,an annular pattern, to substantially expose the conductive ring 130completely. Moreover, in this embodiment, an annular conductive patternserves a conductive element 250, such that the conductive ring 130 iselectrically connected to the conductive housing 160 through theconductive element 250 in the opening 242. In general, the presentinvention does not limit the shape of the opening 242, and no matter theopening 242 partially or completely exposes the conductive ring 130, theconductive ring 130 can be electrically connected to the conductivehousing 160 through the conductive element 250 in the opening 242, so asto achieve the ESD protection effect.

Furthermore, other elements may further disposed on the cover platethrough other implementation manners. FIG. 6 is a top schematic view ofa decoration plate. Referring to FIG. 6, a decoration plate 30 includesa cover plate 310 and the elements disposed on the cover plate 310including a decoration layer 320, a conductive ring 330, and a touchelement 340. Taking this embodiment as an example, the touch element 340includes a sensing electrode 342 and at least one transmission wire 344connected to the sensing electrode 342, in which the sensing electrode342 is located inside a region surrounded by the conductive ring 330,and the conductive ring 330 has a gap 332 such that the transmissionwire 344 is partially located in the gap 332.

The sensing electrode 342 includes a plurality of first sensing series342A and a plurality of second sensing series 342B. Each first sensingseries 342A extends in a first direction D1, each second sensing series342B extends in a second direction D2, and the first direction D1 andthe second direction D2 are different from each other. Specifically, thefirst direction D1 and the second direction D2 may be perpendicular toeach other, or intersect at an angle not equal to zero degree.

Each of the first sensing series 342A includes a plurality of sensingpads P1 and a plurality of connecting lines C1 for connecting thesensing pads P1 together in series in the first direction D1. Similarly,each of the second sensing series 342B includes a plurality of sensingpads P2 and a plurality of connecting lines C2 for connecting thesensing pads P2 together in series in the second direction D2. As forthis embodiment, capacitance changes sensed by the sensing pads P1 andthe sensing pads P2 may serve as a reference for determining the touchposition. Moreover, one end of the transmission wire 344 is connected tothe first sensing series 342A or the second sensing series 342B, and theother end is extended to a periphery of the cover plate 310, so as totransfer a signal of the first sensing series 342A or the second sensingseries 342B to an outer circuit. In addition, the transmission wire 344may also transfer a scanning signal output from the outer circuit to thefirst sensing series 342A or the second sensing series 342B.

The touch element 340 is, for example, a projected capacitive touchelement.

However, the present invention does not limit that the sensing electrode342 should be formed by a plurality of sensing series, and in otherembodiments, the sensing electrode 342 may be formed by a plurality ofstrip insulating patterns or a whole conductive layer. In addition, onetransmission wire 344 or a plurality of transmission wires 344 mayexist. It should be noted that, the conductive ring 330 has the gap 332,to prevent the operation of the touch element 340 from being negativelyinfluenced due to electrical connection of the transmission wire 344 andthe conductive ring 330.

Generally, with different process steps, many designs exist in thecross-sectional structure of the touch element 340. For example, FIGS. 7to 10 are cross-sectional structural designs along a line B-B′ and aline C-C′ in FIG. 6. First, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 together, inaddition to the decoration layer 320, the conductive ring 330, and thetouch element 340, an island insulating pattern I1, an insulating layer350, and a conductive element 360 are further disposed on the decorationplate 30. The island insulating pattern I1 is disposed between theconnecting lines C1 and the connecting lines C2. The insulating layer350 covers the decoration layer 320, the conductive ring 330, and thetouch element 340, and has an opening 352 for exposing the conductivering 330. Moreover, the conductive element 360 is disposed in theopening 352 to achieve the ESD protection. In other words, the structureshown in FIG. 7 may be disposed on a conductive housing of an electronicapparatus to provide the ESD protection effect.

It can be know from the cross-sectional structure that, the sensing padsP2 of the second sensing series 342B and, for example, the connectinglines C1 of the first sensing series 342A are coplanarly disposed on thecover plate 310. In addition, although the sensing pads P1 of the firstsensing series 342A are not shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, thesensing pads P1 and the connecting lines C1 may be coplanarly disposedon the cover plate 310. In other words, the connecting lines C1 and thesensing pads P1 of the first sensing series 342A and the sensing pads P2of the second sensing series 342B may be formed by patterning the sametransparent conductive layer. The connecting lines C1 and the connectinglines C2 are separated by the island insulating pattern I1 to maintainelectrically independent to each other.

Additionally, materials of the connecting lines C2, the transmissionwire 344, and the conductive ring 330 are all, for example, metalmaterials. In this embodiment, the connecting lines C2, the transmissionwire 344, and the conductive ring 330 may be formed by patterning thesame metal layer. Thus, this embodiment does not need an additionalprocess to fabricate the conductive ring 330. Furthermore, the presentinvention does not limit to the implementation that the decoration layer320 is fabricated between the cover plate 310 and the transmission wire344. In other embodiments, the decoration layer 320 may be selectivelyfabricated at a side of the cover plate 310 away from the transmissionwire 344.

Next, referring to FIG. 8, the structural design of this embodiment issubstantially similar to that shown in FIG. 7, and the main differencelies in that the design shown in FIG. 8 replaces the island insulatingpattern I1 shown in FIG. 7 with an insulating layer 12. At this time,the insulating layer 12 substantially covers the connecting lines C1 andthe sensing pads P2, and the insulating layer 12 has a contact openingIW to partially expose the sensing pads P2. Thus, the connecting linesC2 are electrically connected to the sensing pads P2 through the contactopening IW.

Furthermore, referring to FIGS. 6 and 9 together, according to thisembodiment, when fabricating the touch element, the decoration layer 320can be first formed. Next, the connecting lines C2 and the sensing padsP2 of the second sensing series 342B are sequentially fabricated on thecover plate 310. Then, an island insulating pattern 13 is fabricated onthe connecting lines C2. Afterwards, the connecting lines C1 of thefirst sensing series 342A are fabricated on the island insulatingpattern 13. Finally, the insulating layer 350 and the opening 352 in theinsulating layer 350 are formed. When the sensing pads P2 arefabricated, the sensing pads P1 of the first sensing series 342A may besimultaneously fabricated on the cover plate 310 at the same time. Thus,the sensing pads P1 and the sensing pads P2 may be designed to becoplanar.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, when the connecting linesC2 are fabricated, the transmission wire 344 and the conductive ring 330may be fabricated at the same time. Therefore, the connecting lines C2,the transmission wire 344, and the conductive ring 330 may be made ofthe same material and may also be the same film layer. Certainly, theconductive element 360 may be disposed in the opening 352 in theinsulating layer 350, such that the conductive ring 330 is electricallyconnected to an external element (for example, the conductive housing ofthe electronic apparatus). Furthermore, the present invention does notlimit the implementation that the decoration layer 320 is fabricatedbetween the cover plate 310 and the transmission wire 344. In otherembodiments, the decoration layer 320 may be selectively fabricated at aside of the cover plate 310 away from the transmission wire 344.

Next, referring to FIG. 10, the structural design of this embodiment issubstantially similar to that shown in FIG. 7, and the main differencelies in that the deign shown in FIG. 10 replaces the island insulatingpattern 13 shown in FIG. 7 with an insulating layer 14. At this time,the insulating layer 14 is substantially disposed between the sensingpads P2 and the cover plate 310, and the insulating layer 14 has acontact opening IW to partially expose the connecting lines C2. Thus,the sensing pads P2 are electrically connected to the connecting linesC2 through the contact opening IW. In other words, in this embodiment,after the connecting lines C2, the transmission wire 344, and theconductive ring 330 are fabricated, the insulating layer 14 iscompletely formed on the cover plate 310. Next, the contact opening IWis formed on the cover plate 310, and then the sensing pads P1 (notshown in FIG. 10), the sensing pads P2, and the connecting lines C1 arefabricated. Finally, the insulating layer 350 and the opening 352 areformed to complete the fabrication of the touch element and theconductive ring 330.

In view of the above, in the electronic apparatus of the presentinvention, the conductive ring is disposed on the cover plate, and theconductive ring is electrically connected to the conductive housing.Once the electronic apparatus has undesired electrostatic chargeaccumulation, the electrostatic charges may be transferred to theconductive housing through the conductive ring for release. Thus, theelectronic apparatus has good ESD protection capability, whichfacilitates the improvement of the service life of the electronicapparatus.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A decoration plate, comprising: a cover plate; adecoration layer, disposed on the cover plate; a conductive ring,disposed on a surface of the cover plate, wherein the decoration layeris disposed between the cover plate and the conductive ring; and atleast one conductive element contacting the conductive ring.
 2. Thedecoration plate according to claim 1, further comprising: an insulatinglayer disposed on the surface of the cover plate, at least partiallycovering the conductive ring and having at least one area to expose apart of the conductive ring.
 3. The decoration plate according to claim1, wherein the conductive element is a conductive glue, a conductiveplug or a short metal pillar.
 4. The decoration plate according to claim2, wherein the area is set to be annular to expose the conductive ring.5. The decoration plate according to claim 2, wherein an amount of thearea is more than two to expose segments of the conductive ring.